Friday, April 3, 2015

Archbishop Fred Hiltz Fasts for Climate Change

Archbishop Fred Hiltz fasted for the Climate on Friday, March 6, 2015. The Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada and President of the PWRDF Board of Directors, joined other faith leaders, politicians and environmentalists for the 365 Rolling Fast for the Climate that began on December 1, 2014 at the UN climate conference in Lima, Peru, and will end November 30, the first day of the climate conference in Paris, France.
Simon Chambers quoted the Archbishop as follows:

“As I ‘choose’ to refrain from eating for the day I know that the next day I can and will eat. Millions can’t and won’t. For them there is ‘no choice’ in the matter. Through PWRDF’s Food Security Program I have learned that the number of malnourished people worldwide is just under one billion people – the entire combined populations of Canada, the United States and Europe – nearly 1/7 of the world’s population,” said Archbishop Hiltz.

He continued, “It troubles me that in the midst of the world’s more than fifty million refugees, a rapidly growing segment is environmentally displaced peoples. Climate Change has so impacted their lands and waterways that they are forced to be on the move.”

More than 365 people worldwide are participating in this one-year fasting chain, initiated by the Fast For The Climate in solidarity with vulnerable people who are most affected by dangerous climate impacts. Included on this list are Bishop Susan Johnson, National Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, John Nduna, General Secretary of the ACT Alliance, Bishop Mark MacDonald, national Indigenous Bishop, and Archbishop Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury.

Adele Finney, PWRDF’s Executive Director, and others in the PWRDF network are fasting in solidarity with Archbishop Hiltz.

The Fast for the Climate began at the climate talks in Warsaw in 2013. Typhoon Haiyan had just devastated the Philippines that November, and climate commissioner Yeb Saño, whose own family was caught up in the disaster that killed thousands and destroyed the homes and livelihoods of millions, announced in a moving speech that he would not eat until countries at the Warsaw conference delivered actions that would ‘stop the madness’ of the climate crisis.

Hundreds of others from around the world chose to fast with him in solidarity. The Fast For The Climate has grown into global movement with participation of youth groups, environmental groups and faith-based groups who all want urgent action on climate change by governments this year.

No comments:

Post a Comment

.

Search This Blog

Find Us on Facebook

Find Us on Twitter

Stewardship of the Environment

We take a leadership role in our communities. As part of the Anglican Communion, we encourage Anglicans to support sustainable environmental practices as individuals in their daily lives and throughout their communities. Click here for more information about our work.

Mandate

The Stewardship of the Environment Committee is responsible to the Anglican Diocese of Montreal for increasing awareness of our inter-dependence with God's environment and through advice, consultation and support, to foster the improvement of our relationship with the environment.

Within this mandate, the Committee has the following long-term objectives: To provide education and support to the Diocese in developing public positions on environmental issues;

To act as a liaison between the Diocese of Montreal and the National Church on environmental issues;

To act as a liaison between the Diocese of Montreal and civil society and religious organizations that deal with environmental issues;

To assist, with similar groups in other denominations and religions in promoting stewardship of the environment at the municipal, provincial and federal levels; To act as a consultative group to the Diocese and to the parishes on environmental issues; and

To act as a resource group to the parishes of the Diocese in promoting actions within the parish that reduces their impact on the physical environment.

Committee Members

Mr. Richard Matthews, is a former warden at St. Philip's Church. He is the chair and social media coordinator for the Stewardship of the Environment Committee. He spearheaded the fossil fuel divestment motion in the Anglican Diocese of Montreal. He also developed and co-facilitated a course called Ecology and Spirituality. Richard is the owner of The Green Market Oracle and the President of Small Business Consulting (SBC). He is a widely published writer and his articles have appeared in dozens of publications including Scientific American. He has contributed to a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) report on the Green Economy in Action. He lives with his wife and two children in Montreal.

Dr. Brooke Struck is a member of St. Philip's Church where he sings in the choir. His doctoral research in philosophy, undertaken at the University of Guelph, focused on the notion of objectivity in science, and how science is related to other forms of cultural practice. He presently works as a science policy analyst at Science-Metrix, a research-program evaluation firm in Montreal. He has previously worked in science policy analysis for Environment Canada, and also co-founded the Philopolis festival series, which provides a space for discussing the intersection between ideas in academic philosophy and present-day issues of society, culture and politics.

Mr. Jeffrey Mackie is the verger and an active member of Christ Church Cathedral. He is an internationally published writer and also hosts a literary program at CKUT. He is also very active politically and currently sits on the Verdun executive of Projet Montreal. In 2012 he ran provincially for the Green Party of Quebec.